MANCHESTER – The Arkell Pavilion at the Southern Vermont Arts Center was filled to the brim Sunday night as international performer, recording artist and Manchester resident, Maxine Linehan, headlined and served as master of ceremonies for the fifth annual Red Fox Community School benefit concert.
Billed as “Maxine & Friends,” the event was designed to appeal to every taste and struck a family-friendly, festive note even before the first chord was played with oversized lawn games and food trucks on the pavilion grounds. Former Burr and Burton student and Miss New York Teen USA, Ginger Ragaishis, was even on hand adding a shot of red-carpet glamour to the evening.
“The primary focus of the benefit concert is to raise funds for tuition assistance, ensuring that a Red Fox education remains accessible to as many families as possible,” said Linehan before the performance. “Supporting accessibility is a central priority. At the same time, the event plays an important role in raising the school’s profile and helping shift lingering misconceptions that progressive, experiential education is somehow “alternative” or fringe. In reality, Red Fox represents a forward-thinking model of elementary education rooted in the same child-centered, experiential approaches embraced by many of the world’s leading educational systems,” she said.
The Red Fox Community School, whose mission is to “educate students through a progressive approach to be independent thinkers, creative problem solvers, and engaged, respectful community members,” enrolls 23 K-5 children across three multi-age classes ensuring a small student:teacher ratio.
“It’s part of what makes the school unique,” said Linehan adding that, “the focus is not on becoming bigger for the sake of growth, but on ensuring more families have access to this distinctive educational model.”
Linehan, the school’s co-founder and board chair, led the fundraising charge from the stage with all the humor and ease of a seasoned performer by guiding the audience through the process of texting their donations, turning what might have otherwise been a characterless bit of business into a lighthearted appeal.
The music kicked off with the maiden performance of Turnstyle, a band of talented Long Trail students featuring Linehan’s daughter, Rebecca Koss, Ben Antin, Jacob Weinberg and Teddy Marthage. “I’ve had the joy of watching each of them perform individually at school over the years and became an immediate fan when they formed the band,” Linehan said. The group played their way through a selection of next-level pop songs including renditions of Billy Joel tunes, “Vienna” and “New York State of Mind.”
Following Turnstyle, Linehan & Friends took the stage led by Linehan’s head Friend and Music Director, husband Andrew Koss, and a quartet of other musicians including Long Trail music teacher Geoffrey Gee and local musicians Jeremy Walker, Josh Wallevik, and Steve Weinberg who backed the lineup of diverse performers.
Rocker and former Columbia artist, Kris Montgomery Pedereson, turned up the volume with his gritty song “Afraid To Be Born,” a track from his recently recorded album produced by Koss. Pederesen was also joined by Linehan for a duet.
“This show is so much fun because of the incredible mix of music and styles we get to bring together–from pop and rock to Broadway and beyond. There’s something joyful and unexpected about watching all of those genres collide in one evening, especially when it’s performed alongside friends and young artists from our own community,” Linehan said.
The evening included a dynamic several minutes of dance by Kimerer LaMothe who interpreted piano music played by her husband, Gee. LaMothe’s athletic and intense performance added a different flavor to the concert otherwise filled exclusively with song.
Not that there’s anything wrong with that.
“This show is about crowd-pleasers, songs people love to hear, songs that surprise them, and songs that are simply a blast to perform together,” Linehan said.
From a pure version of “Hopelessly Devoted” sung by Long Trail student Michael McLeod a.k.a. “Mickey;” to “Piano Man” sung by Linehan’s son, Gabriel, and accompanied by daughter Rebecca on harmonica; to Red Fox students singing Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “Any Dream Will Do” from the musical “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat;” to selections from the Bangles and Irish heavyweights The Cranberries and U2, the musical mash-up entertained and even educated.
One highlight of the evening was Linehan’s powerful rendition of U2’s “Where The Streets Have No Name.” Linehan, who was born and lived in the north of Ireland–distinct from Northern Ireland–explained, during the song’s iconic guitar intro, “in Northern Ireland, your street name announces your religion, politics and socio-economic status,” and that Bono’s desire to “tear down the walls that hold me inside” is a call for national peace and harmony over sectarian division, historically the cause of so much violence and unrest in that part of the world.
Today, Linehan’s raising her family with Koss in the Northshire and is living out her dream of America. Part of that dream includes giving back through music and education.
“This concert is a celebration of community,” she said. “It brings together professional artists, teachers, students, parents, and young performers all sharing the stage for something bigger than themselves. That spirit really reflects what Red Fox is about–creativity, collaboration, individuality, and connection. In a time when so much feels divided, it’s incredibly meaningful to gather people together through music in support of a school that values children for exactly who they are.”
Those interested in learning more about the Red Fox Community School can visit www.redfoxschool.org for more information.
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